Mercedes CLK63 AMG Black Series

But this car drives home the axiom. It warbles along merrily on the freeway at 80 mph (at 2200 rpm), barely breaking a sweat in the highest of its seven automatic gear ratios. Punch it at that speed, and the transmission drops a few gears to get the big V-8 on the boil (with a soundtrack you'll remember forever), and the CLK checks out with alacrity.

Examine the top-gear acceleration numbers in the specs. The Black Series surges from 30 to 50 mph in 2.0 seconds and from 50 to 70 mph in 2.7 seconds. But the real measure of its output is its ability to accelerate from 60 to 150 mph in less than 20 seconds. You have to love 500 horsepower, don't you?

But that's just a part of the Black Series story. After all, it's only slightly more powerful-25 horsepower-than the "normal" CLK63 AMG. The rest of the engineering focus is on the chassis and body structure. Much of the suspension is all-new, with shocks that feature adjustable rebound and compression damping and springs that allow ride-height adjustments.